‌GT vs PBKS | Twitter reacts to overpowered Shreyas’ 97 dwarfs Sudharsan’s grit as new-look Punjab kicks with victory

Arijit Kundu
no photo

Punjab Kings sealed an empathic victory by twelve runs in the fifth match of the 2025 Indian Premier League to kick off the season. Shreyas Iyer’s 97 cameo overpowered B Sai Sudharsan and Jos Buttler’s half-centuries as the Gujarat Titans lost the season opener for the first time. 

Winning the toss on their first home game in the IPL, Shubman Gill’s decision to field first, keeping the dew in mind, backfired after the opposition’s assault inside the powerplay. Although Prabhsimran Singh failed to shine, Priyansh Arya’s 23-ball 47 under Shreyas Iyer’s flair guided them to a 73-run score inside the field restrictions. The pair added 51 runs together for the second-wicket before Rashid Khan outfoxed him in the seventh over. Shreyas continued his brilliance, taking down the opposition spinner amidst Sai Kishore’s three-fer in the middle-overs phase, removing Azmatullah Omarzai, Glenn Maxwell, and Marcus Stoinis. They were 166/5 in 16 overs before Shashank Singh’s 16-ball 44 burst coupled with Shreyas’ 44-ball 97* steered the Kings to a formidable 243 runs score constituting for 77 runs in the last four overs.

In reply, Shubman Gill and B Sai Sudharsan kicked off the innings for the home side, gathering only 17 runs in the first three overs. Shubman Gill’s couple of sixes and a four in against Azmatullah Omarzai in the next over got converted into a 61-run powerplay, albeit for the skipper’s scalp. Soon after, Sudharsan switched gears while Buttler anchored the 84 runs stand, steering the Titans from 104/1 in ten overs to 145/2 halfway through the 13th over. Sudharsan did get dismissed for a 41-ball 74, but Sherfane Rutherford initiated a cameo before impact substitute Vyshak Vijaykumar and Marco Jansen’s brilliant overs curtailed the equation to 61 needed off the last overs. 17 runs came in the next couple of overs, with Vyshak making life difficult for Rutherford. With Buttler chopping on for 54, Rahul Tewatia stepped into the field, and a six on the last ball of 19th over brought down the equation to 27 needed off the last. The equation was too much to ask for, with Arshdeep Singh bowling, as the Titans lost by twelve runs in the end.

 What a delivery!

Brilliant!

What a player

Thriller!?

Iyer!

Lol!

Haha!

Buttler!

Yeah!

Thriller!

banner

Comments

0/1000

Sign up or log in to your account to leave comments and reactions

Log In with Google

0 Comments